Swpes



2 SheetsSheet 1.

(No Model.)

Patented June 28, 1898.

| ETERS co. vncrrcuma. wmmcwn, n. c,

(No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet. 2. 6. M. LAMB & J. W. PAGE. WARP FEED BQUALIZER FOR'WIRE WEAVING MACHINES.

Patented June 28, 1898.

Carisu 99 g MLZ CHARLES M. LAMB AND JOHN WALLACE PAGE, OF ADRIAN, lllICHIGAN ASSIGNORS TO THE PAGE WOVE PLACE.

N-WIRE FENCE COMPANY, OF SAME WARP-FEED EQUALIZER- FRWIRE-WEAVlNG M AQHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 606,464, dated June 28, 1898. 1

Application filed October 29, 1897. Serial No. 656,300. (No $0361.)"

To coZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHARLES M. LAMB and which the following is a specification.

In the manufacture of woven-wire articles, such as wire fence, wherein anumber of par- M101 n h f. wa rwir a e ed. i u ta ously from supply reels or spools to a weaving-machine to be crossed and tied together at intervals by the woof -wires difficulty is found in maintaining equality in the lengths of the warp -wires in feeding them to the work, thereby producing such a degree of variation in the sections of successive warp wires fed at intervals to the machine as to cause in the finished product of any considable length very material difference between the lengths of the extreme warp-wires. The

difficulty referred to is encountered in the manufacture of woven-wire fence with the machine forming the subject of Letters Patent of the United StatesQNo. 414,844, granted jointly to us November 12, 1889, and it also occurs, though to a lesser extent, in the use of the machine for which Letters Patent of the United States No. 534,893 were granted to Charles M. Lamb, one of the present applioants, February 26, 1895, notwithstanding the provision in the last-named machine of clampin g mechanism for holding taut longitudinal sections of. the warp-wires while applying thereto the woof-wires.-

The object of our present improvement (which has been especially devised for use with wire-fence machines of the character of those specified, though it may be used with equal advantage in connection with other machines for manufacturing difierent articles of woven wire) is to insure the feeding of uniform or approximately uniform lengths of the warp-wires to a wire-weaving machine, whatever the continuous length may be of these wires in the finished article. This we accomplish, generally stated, by stretching uniformly, or practically so, any desired length of the several warp-wires between the machine the feed of the warp-wires is controlled through the medium of our improved clamping-carriage; Fig. 2, anenlargedsection,taken at the line 2 on Fig. ,1 and 1v1ewed. in the direction of the arrow, showing the clamping-canriage in rear elevation; Fig: 3,a section taken at the line 3 on Fig. 2 and viewed in the direction of the arrow; Fig.4, a section taken at the line 4 on Fig; 3 and viewed in the di rection of the arrow; and Fig. 5, a View in sectional elevation of two of the clamps employed in the carriage, showing a warp-wire fas held between themnear their upper ends and a spacer between them near their lower ends.

A is the clamping-carriage,which, as shown, comprises the following-described construction: A frame composed of thejside, bars r and 7", having extending between and preferably cast with them the connecting-bars q and q and'below thelatter the bar 12, channeled extending through the side bars and carrying on their outer ends, respectively, the wheels o and n. A threaded clamp-supporting rod in passes loosely through the side bars between the axles and carries inside the frame, adjacent to the bar 'r, a nut Z and outside the frame, adjacent to the bar 1", a nut 70 for fastening the rod in place. On the rod, m are suspended through openings 42 the clamps C, notched or recessed coincidently in their sides near their upper and lower ends, as shown, to form sockets z andc, respectively; for the warp-wires B and spacers h, whichmay be wires and should corresponddiametrically with the warp-wires and be bent at their opposite ends, as shown in Fig. 4. At their lower ends the clamps when adjusted on their p for their retention in place.

A plan suitable for the application of our improvement is represented diagrammatically in Fig. 1. D is an inclesure, as a building or room, the length of which may be that contained in a bundle of the finished fence to be manufactured-say forty rods, or about six hundred and forty feet. At one end of the room is an elevated platform E, supporting any desired number of wire-weaving machines F, side by side, and the construction of which may be that of the machine of either ofthe aforesaid patents. G is an overhead track suspended from the ceiling of the room D and on which the carriage A runs toward the machine F. Any desired number of such tracks may be provided, side by side or above each other, as indicated in Fig. 2, one for each carriage employed, a separate clamping-carriage being used for each machine.

With a carriage A in position on its track G--say at the end thereof farthest from the machine 'F, to which the track leadsthe warp-wires B from suitably-located spools or reels Hare directed, as over suspended guidepulleys g and g, lengthwise along the respective track G to the'maehine F, in which the wires are properly adjusted. Thereupon these warp-wires are stretched to a tension as nearly uniform as practicable by any suitable means, such as the block-and-tackle device I, (represented in Fig. 1,) one such device being appliedto each warp-wire and operated to draw it taut, in which condition it may be held in a suitable clamp (indicated at K in Fig. 1) until adjusted in the clampingcarriage A. While the wires are thus held in their stretched condition, they are adjusted in the sockets 1' between the clamps O on the carriage A, and spacer-wires h are inserted in the clamp-sockets t", whereupon the clamps are firmly tightened together on the rod m by turning the nut 7c,thereby clamping the warpwires, as also the lower spacer-wires, which latter,being of the same diameter as the warpwires, prevent the clamps from being forced in setting them out of their desired perpendicular position. WVhen the warp -wires have been thus adjusted in the carriage A, they are released from the devices K and I and the machine F is operated to feed to it the warpwires at required intervals in predetermined lengths-say of one foot--at which the woofbefore releasing that carriage, another one like it may be applied to the warp-wires at the farther end of the track, when on resuming the operation of the machine F the feed of the warp-Wires is continued.

Obviously, owing to the practical uniformity of stretch of the wires B, they must be fed to the machine in equal lengths or in lengths without material variation, thereby overcoming the difficulty hereinbefore pointed out, which,without the use of our improvement, may involve in a length of the finished fence of six hundred and forty feet, with a variation of even one-sixteenth of an inch in each foot between adjacent warp-wires, where the fence involves,'say, twelve such wires, a difference in length of about forty feet between the extreme warp-wires.

WVhile the carriage A, as shown and described, affords means which best serve our purpose, so far as we are at present aware, we do not limit our invention to the particular construction thereof, as that construction may be variously modified without departure from our invention.

It will of course be understood that the length of equalized warp-wires may be less than the length of the finished product of the wire-weaving machine, so that the stretching operation would have to be performed more than once in the manufacture of the finished product.

Another and very important advantage afforded by equalizing,in the manner described, the feed of the warp-wires is that of incidentally measuring or ascertaining the more 01' less exact length of a given quantity of the finished product-as, for example, the number of rods in a bundle of the finished fence. In the operation of machines without some device for feeding along the warp-wires and depending for drawing them along upon a take-up, or of machines equipped with devices for feeding short lengths at a time of the wires, as, respectively, in the patented machines referred to, difficulty is experienced in ascertaining the exact length of a quantity of the finished product. The method employed for, measuring the finished product of the aforesaid patented machines is in the one instance that of counting the successive advancements, each of predetermined length, of the warp-wires, or an automatic mechanical register is used by attaching it to the machine to cause it to be operated by the feed or take-up mechanism to register the number of advancements. Whichever of these methods is employed, the measurement is liable to be inaccurate, owing either to failure of the register to operate properly or, and more particularly, to the slight variation in the successive advancements which, though it may be practically imperceptible, is liable to aggregate a number of feet, more or less, than the register or count indicates. With our improvement the exact measure of the quantity of the finished product may, within certain limits, be ascertained by simply starting the clamping-carriage at a given point at or near the opposite end of the trackfrom that of the weaving-machine, and the length of the track traversed by the clamping-carriage will indicate the length of the finished product.

What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In combination with a wire-weaving machine and the supply of warp-wires therefor, a warp-Wire feeding and equalizing carriage provided with clamps for holding the equalized warp-wires upon it, and supported between said supply and machine to travel toward and feed the warp-wires from the supply to the machine by its operation, substantially as described.

2. In combination with a wire-weaving machine, an overhead track between said machine and the warp-wire supply thereto, and a clamping-carriage movable on said track and operating to hold the equalized warpwires while being fed to said machine, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. A "clamping carriage for holding the equalized warp-Wires While being fed to a Wireweaving machine, comprising a frame, a rod supported on the frame to extend across it, clamps supported on the rod and adjustable lengthwise thereof to clamp the Warp-wires between them, and means for tightening the clamps, substantially as described.

4. A clamping carriage for holding th equalized Warp-wires while being fed to a wireweaving machine, comprising a frame, a

clamp-support on said frame, clamps on said support, means for tightening said clamps against the warp-wires interposed between them, and a channeled bar below the clamps for confining them at their lower ends, substantially as described.

5. A clampingcarriage for holding the equalized warp-Wires while being fed to a wireweaving machine, comprising a frame, a threadedrod 0% supported in said frame and carrying nuts I and 7c, clamps O suspended on said rod and having sockets z for the warp-' wires and sockets z" for spacers h,'substan tially as described.

6. A clamping carriage for holding the equalized warp-Wires while being fed to a wireweaving machine,comprising a frame adapted to ride on a track and formed with side bars r and '1", bars q and q, and a channeled bar 1), a threaded rod m supported in said side bars and carrying nuts Z and 7c, and clamps C suspended on said rod and havin g socketsz' for the warp-wires and sockets 11 for spacers h, substantially as described.

CHARLES M. LAMB. JOHN WALLACE PAGE. In presence of Y GEO. L. BENNETT,

S. EDSON G. WHITMORE. 

